Public Invited To Disability Program Hearings

OKLAHOMA CITY — Proposed rule changes potentially affecting several programs for Oklahomans with disabilities will be the focus of a public hearing held by the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services (DRS) and the Oklahoma Rehabilitation Council (ORC).

The public is encouraged to attend the meetings, which will be held in Oklahoma City on Feb. 8, Lawton on Feb. 9 and Tulsa on Feb. 10.

Programs affected by the proposed new rules are administered by DRS and include vocational rehabilitation and employment services for Oklahomans with all types of disabilities.

DRS provides a variety of services that help individuals with disabilities achieve employment, personal independence and self-sufficiency. The Oklahoma Rehabilitation Council advises DRS on development of policies and plans for rehabilitation services.

Policy changes include some of the following:

• aligning DRS policy with state law that changes the agency purchasing to allow staff to provide services to a larger group of low-income individuals;
• giving DRS counselors more power to make decisions independently;
• clarifying that federal and state financial student aid for clients attending college, university, vocational or trade school is applied first to the tuition and education cost before VR funds are used for this purpose; and
• aligning DRS policy more closely with federal rules under the Rehabilitation Act by improving clarity and removing extraneous language.

There will be some cleaning up of the policy where language needs to reflect that the agency replaced the deputy director position with a chief of staff.  Another change is pulling the budget and finances policies out of the Materials Management Division and moving them into the newly created Financial Services Division section.

Some changes are due:

• to the state’s merit rule changes in the hiring program for those with disabilities;
• the state’s on-line applicant system;
• the appointment of a different person as liaison to the office of administrative rules and
• moving compliance reviews out of the Vocational Rehabilitation division and back into the Management Services Division.

The public is invited to comment on proposed rule changes.

Public hearing dates and locations are:

• Oklahoma City – Monday, Feb. 8, 4 p.m. – 6 p.m., Department of Rehabilitation Services State Office, 3535 NW 58th St., 2nd floor conference room
• Lawton – Tuesday, Feb. 9, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m., Department of Human Services, 2609 S.W. Lee Blvd., Large Conference Room
• Tulsa – Wednesday, Feb. 10, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m., Total Source for Hearing-loss and Access (TSHA), 8740 E. 11th, Conference Room

The proposed rule changes are available on the DRS website. To read them go to www.okdrs.gov.

Copies of the proposed rules may also be obtained by writing the Policy Development Unit, attention Ray Leard, Department of Rehabilitation Services, 3535 NW 58, Suite 500, Oklahoma City, OK 73112. Leard may be reached by email, releard@okdrs.gov, phone, (405) 951-3406 or (800) 845-8476. Both numbers are accessible by telecommunication devices for the deaf.

Persons unable to attend the hearings may send written comments to Ray Leard at the address above or by email to policycomment@okdrs.gov. Comments must be received no later than February 10, 2010.

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